Taxonomic Decision for Subspecies Arrangement

• Yata, O. 1989. A revision of the Old World species of the genus Eurema Hübner (Lepidoptera, Pieridae) Part I. Phylogeny and zoogeography of the subgenus Terias Swainson and description of the subgenus Eurema Hübner. Bulletin of the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History 9: 1-103 pls 1-24 [78]
• Edwards, E.D. 1996. Pieridae. pp. 240-242, 358-359 in Nielsen, E.S., Edwards, E.D. & Rangsi, T.V. (eds). Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 4 xiv 529 pp. & CD-ROM. [241]

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Extralimital distribution—Indonesia (Irian Jaya, Kei Islands), Papua New Guinea, Oriental Region, absent from Malaysia and many islands of Indonesia and the Philippines and Borneo.

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
  • Queensland: N Gulf, NE coastal
  • Western Australia: N coastal
• Indonesia
  • Irian Jaya
  • Kei Islands
• Papua New Guinea

Oriental Region

Ecological Descriptors

Larva: herbivore (associated flora: Chamaecrista sp. [CAESALPINIACEAE]).

Details of nominate subspecies, not present in Australia

Eurema laeta laeta (Boisduval, 1836)

Terias laeta Boisduval, J.B.A.D. de 1836. Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. Species Géneral des Lépidoptères. Paris : (forms part of Roret's Suites à Buffon) Vol. 1 xii 690 pls 24 pp. [674].
Type data: lectotype BMNH ♀*; Boisduval in the original description indicated that he had 40 specimens.
Subsequent designation: Talbot, G. 1943. On some Types of Pieridae described by Boisduval. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 11 10: 136–139 [139] (designated a lectotype); Yata, O. 1989. A revision of the Old World species of the genus Eurema Hübner (Lepidoptera, Pieridae) Part I. Phylogeny and zoogeography of the subgenus Terias Swainson and description of the subgenus Eurema Hübner. Bull. Kitakyushu Mus. Nat. Hist. 9: 1–103 pls 1–24 [83] (referred to a holotype); Parsons, M.J. 1998. The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea; their systematics and biology. San Diego : Academic Press 736 pp. [283] (referred to a holotype).
Type locality: Bombay, Bengal, India (designated in original description), see Talbot, G. 1943. On some Types of Pieridae described by Boisduval. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 11 10: 136–139[139] (quoted the label data as 'laeta B. sp. Bengalia'); Yata, O. 1989. A revision of the Old World species of the genus Eurema Hübner (Lepidoptera, Pieridae) Part I. Phylogeny and zoogeography of the subgenus Terias Swainson and description of the subgenus Eurema Hübner. Bull. Kitakyushu Mus. Nat. Hist. 9: 1–103 pls 1–24 [83] (like other authors gave Bengal as the type locality but Boisduval was more specific and mentioned Bombay).

History of changes

• Terias sana Butler, A.G. 1877. On a collection of Lepidoptera from Cape York and the south-east coast of New Guinea. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1877(3): 466-475 [publication date: Duncan, F.M. 1937. Dates of publication of the society's Proceedings, 1859–1926. With an appendix containing the dates of publication of "Proceedings" 1830–1858, compiled by the late F.H. Waterhouse, and of the "Transactions", 1833–1869, by the late Henry Peavot, originally published in P.Z.S. 1893, 1913. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London A 107: 71–84] [470].

  Type data:

   Lectotype BMNH ♂, Cape York, QLD (designated in original description)
  Comment: Butler in original description indicated that he had two specimens.
• Terias lineata Miskin, W.H. 1889. Revision of the Australian species of the lepidopterous genus Terias, with descriptions of some new species. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 6(5): 256-263 [publication date: Anon. 1889. Royal Society of Queensland. Annual Meeting, 12th July, 1889. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 6: i–xi [iv, vi, x]] [257].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) SAMA 2 specimens, sex unknown, N QLD (designated in original description)
  Comment: Miskin stated in the original description that he had two specimens, these were originally in the Lucas Collection; Hancock, D.L. 1995. The butterfly types of W. H. Miskin in the Queensland Museum (Lepidoptera). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 38(2): 519–528 [520] (confirmed specimens not in the QM).

  Type locality references:

  Hancock, D.L. 1995. The butterfly types of W. H. Miskin in the Queensland Museum (Lepidoptera). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 38(2): 519-528.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Jones, R.E., Rienks, J. & Wilson, L. 1985. Seasonally and environmentally induced polyphenism in Eurema laeta lineata (Lepidoptera: Pieridae). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 24(3): 161-167 [161]
• Yata, O. 1989. A revision of the Old World species of the genus Eurema Hübner (Lepidoptera, Pieridae) Part I. Phylogeny and zoogeography of the subgenus Terias Swainson and description of the subgenus Eurema Hübner. Bulletin of the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History 9: 1-103 pls 1-24 [92]

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Extralimital distribution—Indonesia (Irian Jaya), Papua New Guinea.

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
  • Queensland: N Gulf, NE coastal
  • Western Australia: N coastal
• Indonesia
  • Irian Jaya
• Papua New Guinea

Ecological Descriptors

Larva: herbivore.

General References

Common, I.F.B. & Waterhouse, D.F. 1981. Butterflies of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xiv 682 pp. 49 pls. [275] (as Eurema sana (Butler, 1877) and Eurema laeta lineata (Miskin, 1889), biology)

Jones, R.E. 1999. The Grass Yellows, Eurema Species (Pieridae). pp. 143-151 in Kitching, R.L., Scheermeyer, E., Jones, R.L. & Pierce, N.E. (eds). Biology of Australian Butterflies. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing xvi 395 pp. [143]

Jones, R.E., Rienks, J. & Wilson, L. 1985. Seasonally and environmentally induced polyphenism in Eurema laeta lineata (Lepidoptera: Pieridae). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 24(3): 161-167 [161] (confirmed Eurema sana (Butler) as a seasonal morph of Eurema laeta lineata (Miskin))

Waterhouse, G.A. 1903. Catalogue of the Rhopalocera of Australia. Memoirs of the NSW Naturalists' Club No. 1. iii 49 pp. [33] (suggested Terias sana Butler, 1877 and Terias lineata Miskin, 1889 were the same species)

Waterhouse, G.A. 1932. What Butterfly is That? A Guide to the Butterflies of Australia. Illustrated by Neville Cayley. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 291 pp. 34 pls. [Date published 15/Dec/1932] [64, 65]

Waterhouse, G.A. 1936. [unpublished personal manuscript of observations made at the BMNH (Papilionidae, Pieridae, Danainae)]. Photocopy located at ANIC, Canberra, ACT. 29 pp. (indicated Terias sana Butler and Terias laeta lineata Miskin are seasonal forms of the same species)

Waterhouse, G.A. & Lyell, G. 1914. The Butterflies of Australia: a monograph of the Australian Rhopalocera introducing a complete scheme of structural classification, and giving descriptions and illustrations of all the butterflies found in Australia, including a number now recorded for the first time. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 239 pp. 38 pls + 3 unnumbered colour pls. [Date published 25 July 1914] [154] (as Terias sana Butler, 1877 and Terias laeta lineata Miskin, 1889, description, distribution)

Yata, O. 1985. Part 1 : Pieridae. pp. 206-438 in Tsukada, E. (ed.). Butterflies of the South East Asian Islands. II. Japan : Plapac 1-623 pls 1-162. [223] (biology, included distribution map)

Yata, O. 1989. A revision of the Old World species of the genus Eurema Hübner (Lepidoptera, Pieridae) Part I. Phylogeny and zoogeography of the subgenus Terias Swainson and description of the subgenus Eurema Hübner. Bulletin of the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History 9: 1-103 pls 1-24 [92] (biology, discussed wet and dry season forms)

History of changes